Recent Advances on Octahedral Polypyridyl Ruthenium(II) Complexes as Antimicrobial Agents.

Yulin Yang,Chen Fu,Guojian Liao

doi:10.3390/polym10060650

Abstract

Recent developments of therapeutic agents based on transition metals have attracted a great deal of attention. Metal drugs have advantages over other small molecule drugs, and it was demonstrated that, in a number of studies, they played an important role in pharmaceutical chemical research and clinical chemotherapy of cancers. It is worthwhile mentioning that octahedral polypyridyl ruthenium(II) complexes have shown remarkable applications in chemical biology and medicinal chemistry over the last decade. However, only very recently has there been comprehensive interest in their antimicrobial properties due to metal-related toxic concerns or neglected potential roles in microbiological systems. Our review will highlight the recent developments in octahedral polypyridyl ruthenium(III) complexes that have exhibited significant antimicrobial activities and will discuss the relationship between the chemical structure and biological process of ruthenium complexes, in both bacterial and fungal cells.

Highlights

Bacterial resistance is a major challenge for the global public health community [1,2]
Along with more intimate knowledge of antibacterial drugs themselves, many research institutes have shifted their focus to these study of auxiliary agents, which have shown synergistic and regulatory effects on antibacterial agents [6]. (B) The structural modification of existing antibiotics or synthetic antimicrobials under the guidance of research achievements in the mechanisms of action, resistance mechanisms, structure–activity relationships, etc. [7]. (C) The study of novel antibacterial agents based on novel chemical structures, mechanisms, and targets of action, which are effective approaches to overcome the resistance of pathogenic bacteria [8]
The antimicrobial mechanisms of octahedral ruthenium complex-DNA interactions have been extensively researched, and, in this text, we review that some examples of ruthenium complexes interact with

Summary

Introduction

Bacterial resistance is a major challenge for the global public health community [1,2]. The centrally-located ruthenium atom acts as a structural center, supporting a rigid, three-dimensional scaffold of ligands, which could lead to a large number of ruthenium complexes with different structural properties via facile ligand substitution or modification, including simple chemical modification, combination of complexes with small organic molecules, introduction of chiral groups, linkage of complexes with macromolecule polymers, matching complexes with specific receptors of cancer cells or other anti-cancer drugs, combination of complexes and groups with special functions, such as photosensitivity, thermosensitivity, and so on [19,20] Using these methods, new complexes with significant anti-cancer activities could be obtained, and some predesigned physicochemical properties of these complexes, such as water solubility, lipid solubility, and targeting properties could be precisely achieved [21]. The complexes can be used as specific inhibitors for telomerase, DNA topoisomerase, protein kinase, and so on, to regulate cell pathways and induce tumor cell apoptosis [28,29,30,31]

Ruthenium-Based Microbiological Activities and Antimicrobial Mechanisms

Dinuclear Polypyridyl Ruthenium Complexes

Multinuclear Polypyridyl Ruthenium Complexes

Findings

Conclusions